M Dunn | Gallery

Michael's Photography Gallery

Downtown Manhattan from atop the Empire State Building, New York City

Downtown Manhattan from atop the Empire State Building

This image was taken with my Olympus 850SW point-and-shoot camera with a small gorillapod braced against the railing on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. With the low light at dusk, I set the ISO to 1600; the result is a more granier image, but it is in focus. I like the image's even cast of natural light yet the night lights are also visible.

Christmas Cityscape, Seattle, Washington

Christmas Cityscape Seattle

This image was taken with my Olympus 850SW point-and-shoot camera with a small gorillapod braced against a utility post. I digitally edited the image with Photoshop using a frosted-glass filter to give the image a painterly feel.

Fourth of July Fireworks #1, Portland, Oregon

Fourth of July Fireworks #1

This image was taken with my Nikon D70 camera, Sigma 28-200 lens, and a Manfrotto tripod. Fireworks pose a challenge as they continue at a rapid pace, you don't know what combination will be next, how high, and what color (rich and deep hues like green, red, blue, and gold work best as opposed to silver). Timing the shutter release is another sort of stab in the dark. Nevertheless, I liked my resulting images.

Fourth of July Fireworks #2, Portland, Oregon

Forth of July Fireworks #2

Fourth of July Fireworks #3, Portland, Oregon

Fourth of July Fireworks #3

This image was taken with my point-and-shoot Olympus 790SW camera and a gorillapod tripod.

The White House, Washington, DC

The White House

The last minutes of dusk are a great time to take pictures. The night lights are on, but there is also some color still in the sky. With my point-and-shoot Olympus 790SW camera and a small gorillapod tripod, I made this image.

Beacon Hill Streetscape, Boston, MA

Beacon Hill

This picture was at dusk with a digital point-and-shoot camera set to delayed shutter release (timer) and night scene mode. A small Gorillapod attached to a street-sign post served as the tripod.

Sunflower in Frosted Glass

Sunflower

This picture was taken at home with a piece of blue bristol board as the background. Later, I used Photoshop's frosted glass filter to give it a painterly look..

Autumn, Bronte Creek, Ontario

Autumn Creek Ontario

This picture was taken on an overcast day; the gray sky helps remove glare that would bleach out the colors. I set the shutter speed to f/8 for more of a white-water/rapids look.

Blue Iris

Blue iris

This picture was taken at home using natural window light. I used a piece of black bristol board as the background.

Bird of Paradise

Bird of paradise flower

The Bird of Paradise is one of the most interesting flowers to me. It's vibrant colors and feathered petals lend to its name. I took this picture with window light and a black piece of bristol board as a backdrop.

CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario

C N Tower Toronto

This picture was taken on a clear July day while I was cycling along the Lake Ontario waterfront. I used a manual SLR camera and a normal (50mm) lens. A polarizing filter helped to deepen the blue color of the sky. Today, this scene would no longer be possible to be photographed as many condos have been built in the foreground area obscuring the view.

The CN ("Canadian National" Railway) Tower was built in the mid-1970s to provide a place for telecommunication antennae to be stationed as well as a tourist attraction to draw people into Toronto's Downtown. Visitors can take an elevator as high as the skypod (the small bubble at the bottom of the top white sections). On a clear day, visitors can see New York State across Lake Ontario. The CN Tower is considered the world's tallest "free-standing" structure.

Symphony of Fire

Fireworks

This picture was taken from the CN Tower's Skypod (see CN Tower picture description) on a late June night. The fireworks were being lit from a barge on Lake Ontario. I set the aperture of the camera at about f/8; with a remote shutter release, I held the shutter open for about 4-5 seconds to get the complete "event". In Adobe Photoshop (a computer program that alters digital images), I used a "zigzag" filter to to alter the straight lines of light.

Fruit Plate

Plate of colorful fruit

This picture was taken at a friend's home with photo strobe lights; the background is black velvet.

Geometric Rose

Geometric rose

This picture is actually a combination of two images (called a "sandwich" in photography). One picture is of a white rose with green grass in the background. The second image is of snow covered tree branches in winter. The white color of the snow overtakes the green of the grass but complements the white of the rose.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco

This picture was taken from a look-off point. The rock in the foreground helps give the image depth (a three-dimensional perspective).

Lily

Iris 1

This picture was taken at home using natural window light. I used a piece of black bristol board as the background but later changed the black to a grainy-navy color in Photoshop. I then added a diffusion filter in Photoshop to soften some of the lines within the image.

Indiana University

This picture was taken on a cloudy day in spring. In Photoshop (a computer program that alters digital images) I changed the cloudy sky by superimposing an image with a blue sky and a few clouds. Then, I added a watercolor painting filter in Photoshop to even out the edges and tones.

House of Assembly, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Legislature

Taking a picture indoors with natural light from the windows requires the photographer to compromise on how to set the exposure for the picture. If I let the camera expose the picture automatically, the strong window light would make the rest of the room appear very dark; cameras are made to average the light in the scene so as to expose at an 18% gray tonal cast (medium gray). So, I had to overexpose the window light in order to get more rich tones and balanced light of the room itself.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg harbor Nova Scotia

Lunenburg is a picturesque coastal town on the Atlantic Ocean. Late in the afternoon, the sun was bringing out all of the vibrant colors of the buildings. In Photoshop, I changed the "picture" into a "painting."

Marching through the Storm

Marching band

This picture is actually a combination of three images (called a "sandwich" in photography). One picture is of window frost on a frigid January morning. The two other images are of a marching band competition on a sunny July afternoon; I overexposed these two pictures with the purpose of later making this picture.

Montmorency Falls, Québec

Montmorency Falls Quebec

Montmorency Falls is just a short drive outside of Québec City. The spray of the falls created a nice rainbow.

National Assembly, Québec City

National Assembly Quebec City

This picture was taken on a beautiful June morning. The angle of the building and the tulips in the foreground help give the image depth.

The Palouse meets the Rocky Mountains

Palouse scene near Spokane Washington State

In early March, I was driving north toward Spokane through the Palouse, rolling farmlands of south eastern Washington state. I turned off the highway onto a country road which brought me to a hilltop offering this scene.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Peggys Cove Nova Scotia at dusk

Peggy's Cove along Nova Scotia's Atlantic Coast is probably the most photographed place in all of Canada. While there one late evening, I waited in hope of a beautiful sunset. The streak of cloud in the sky was placed just right to add some interest and catch the colors of the setting sun as it dipped below the horizon helping to even out the light in the scene. There were people walking around the lighthouse, but I "erased" them in Photoshop.

Pink Lily through Frosted Glass

Pink iris 2

I added a "window frost" filter to this image of an iris taken indoors using photo-strobe lighting. The black velvet background was changed to navy in Photoshop.

Public Gardens, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Public gardens Halifax Nova Scotia

In the center of downtown Halifax is Public Gardens, the oldest Victorian Gardens in Canada. I added a Photoshop painting filter to have a softer effect.

Raindrops

With a few ultraviolet lights pointed towards some paper towel painted with florescent paint, I placed a textured glass plate over top and was very content with the result. Slightly changing the position of the glass plate alters the color cast rendering many picture possibilities.

Seattle in the Rain

Seattle in the rain

I took this picture from the Space Needle Observation Deck late in the afternoon on a rainy day. Photoshop's zigzag filter helped accentuate the perspective of the rain.

Sunflower

This picture was taken at home using window light and black bristol board as the background. Although originally taken in color, I changed the format to "grayscale" in Photoshop. Using the back of the sunflower added texture to the image and helped balance out the tones of gray.

Terasses, Québec City

Outdoor cafes Quebec City

Terasses (outdoor restaurants) are prevalent in Québec City. Taking a picture of tall buildings poses a challenge for a two-dimensional forum like photography. The general rule is to have the most prominent line (edge of a building, column of windows, etc.) straight. This picture poses a bit of difficulty as to which part is most prominent; I chose the left edge of the white wall without windows of the farthest building; it appeared to balance out the vertical lines of the other buildings.

Toronto Sunrise

Toronto sunrise

At 5am on a July morning, 2004, I woke up before dawn and drove to the Lake Ontario shoreline and Prince of Wales Park. It appeared very overcast when I started driving, but the weather forecast indicated the possibility of an interesting sunrise. Within minutes of arriving and having my camera and tripod ready, the sun lit up the sky like a light switch was touched. After taking this picture, the sky went dark gray and stayed that way all day. This picture made the trip worth it, I think.

National Assembly Tower, Québec City

National Assembly Tower

This picture was taken on a beautiful June day. A polarizing filter helped remove the glare from the sun rendering the sky a darker blue in contrast to the light gray of the building.

Antique Truck

Old truck

In the eastern part of Ontario, there is a junk yard of old cars and trucks. The first morning of a camera club outing to this auto graveyard, I woke up before dawn and drove out to the yard. As the sun began to rise, soft light illuminated the vehicles. I added a creative element to the image by using Photoshop's zigzag filter.

Vista House, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Vista House Columbia River Gorge Oregon

This picture was taken from an observation point looking eastward at late afternoon. The sky was hazy as is often the case in this part of the country.